I am attempting to get into animal mans character but I find it so hard. What about animal man interests you and why do you pick up his book?

What about him makes him special and what is it that he does that other heroes can't?

The fact that he lives in a totally normal suburban life as a dad in one instance and in the other he's the guardian of a force of nature linked to all flesh.

Or something like that.

What innervenom said. Also his stories are awesome. Try going back and reading Grant Morrisons run on animal man, it was the run that established him as good comics writer.

He's just cool for no reason when written right.
Need to read Delano's run myself since it's supposedly the best one so far and I want to shake that one horrible run out of me.
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@InnerVenom123 said:

The fact that he lives in a totally normal suburban life as a dad in one instance and in the other he's the guardian of a force of nature linked to all flesh.

Or something like that.

@Billy Batson said:

He's just cool for no reason when written right.
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Pretty much these two reasons suffice

@Kallarkz: A great creative team can do wonders for just about any character.

I don't read Animal Man, but he clearly has plenty of fans. Is it just the creative team or is it his powers that are equally attractive?

@Mighty Thorion:He has a pretty diverse powerset, but I do think it's more because he's a family man that's he so liked. Adds a dynamic to his stories that many other titles don't have.

@aztek_the_lost:

Didn't I tell you who's in a pm some time ago? It was Morrison's since it's the only one that's been collected. The whole meta thing ruined it for me.
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He's a somewhat normal dude as far as superheros go. His wife bosses him around, his kids misbehave, he has to make ends meet and hold everything together and do all the regular superhero stuff. I like watching him try to balance all that stuff without going nuts.

@aztek_the_lost said:

@Billy Batson: I don't remember the things you say...

I thought you had a good memory :p

but while I can accept Morrison's run was somewhat off-putting if you don't like Delano's, what shred of respect I possibly (but unlikely) have left for you will be lost

...
Doubt it, I've liked Delano's other work (Hellblazer) so I'll probably love it.
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As far as Animal Man's powers go, it does give him a sense of uniqueness. Being able to mimic the abilities of any animal and also multiple animals at once gives him a wide array of powers, and I hope the creators get really creative with it in future issues. Some animals have some pretty amazing abilities when you actually start digging into it.

But on the whole, I think I really love Animal Man because of the story. The whole Rot plot is really good and even though it has already lasted through 7 issues, it just keeps me coming back for more.

@MonkeyToe said:

As far as Animal Man's powers go, it does give him a sense of uniqueness. Being able to mimic the abilities of any animal and also multiple animals at once gives him a wide array of powers, and I hope the creators get really creative with it in future issues. Some animals have some pretty amazing abilities when you actually start digging into it.

But on the whole, I think I really love Animal Man because of the story. The whole Rot plot is really good and even though it has already lasted through 7 issues, it just keeps me coming back for more.

I smell a band name!

Animal Man (or at least what I've read of him) seems grounded unlike many superheroes. I think this is mainly due to his family, just my two cents.

@Kallarkz: It's a mixture of a lot of elements for me really.

I really enjoyed the character and his connection to nature, which is brought about in interesting ways by his abilities, and by how they affect him and his family.

I enjoy the family dynamic, as much as any can, because, they're the stars of the book as much as Buddy is. Despite the fact Ellen had some...spotty characterisation over the years (Particularly that phase where she was randomly a lesbian...)

I love the mythology that gets built up around the character, with the Red and that in turn connects to the Green and the Waves and so on and so forth.

More importantly, I am a huge fan of the experimentation that took place in most of the title, from the Meta-Textual examinations of the character in Morrison's Run, the examination of characterisation and context from Milligan, Veitch's opening up the world of the Red and Delano's exploration of the Life Power Church, and to a lesser extent, the whole Animal Shaman thing that happened when Proser was writing it. Although that was a bit crud. I am enjoying his series currently IMMENSELY because he's finally being recognised as a fantastic character - Although that might mean I have competition in regards to the comicvine page editing...

I like him because of his powerset. It's pretty different than what's out there.

@BKole:

pffft like someone would take your top editor spot (fairly that is)
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........Why not Animal Man

@Billy Batson: I think I have a problem....

I never liked Animal Man myself. I always thought his character was bland (except for the times when he broke the fourth wall) and the way he used his powers always looked so ridiculous. I mean he can harness the abilities of all animals, but he doesn't use them like they do. Birds can fly, but they don't just zip around like superman does, they flap their wings. Gazelle have amazing land-speed but they have to run on all fours to achieve it. then their are times when he is harnessing the strength of animals. He harnesses the literal strength of big animals like elephants and rhinos, but the proportionate strength of small animals like ants. Shouldn't it just be one or the other? If he gets the power of a human sized ant (proportionately stronger than humans) than when he taps into elephants it should be the strength of a human sized elephant (which wouldn't be nearly as useful)

I just plain never liked how his powers work and it irks me that he has become the figure head for all animal themed characters in DC.